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Redemption
Silver Lake, B12, 3003 The lake was made out of mercury. Surrounding it was a dank forest, devoid of all life except for the chitter-chatter of insects. The mercury poisoning was enough to wipe out most of wildlife. Under the lake was different. The steel structures that were submerged within were built to withstand the pressure of liquid metal that pushed from the outside. The UCF's main headquarters lay under ten thousand tons of mercury, which was kept out only by the extremely thick walls. Deep inside the facility was a library that held more than twenty-thousand million pieces of writing, each one as ancient as time itself. In this library, which was fifteen times as large as the library of Congress, was a section labled Documents of Time. Cyril Ward stood beside it, slotting the last document into place. Almost five hundred years of this, and it had all finally come together. But something was coming. Cyril could feel it in his bones. His new-second-in-command, Hugo Ramhurst, ran in from a door leading to the control room. "We're under attack." "I know," said Cyril impassively. "Get me Moon." A trolley was wheeled in subsequently, with a glass jar on the top. The said jar was wired to speakers lights that were cluttered around the top of the trolley. Inside the jar was a human, suspended in chrono-jelly that kept it alive all these years. "Hello, Moon." There was a soft hum. "Hello, Cyril." Marcus' Moon's voice was not so much different from the time when he was still alive, only a little bit distorted. The UCF had spent months tuning Moon's voice before he decided to co-operate. "Are you ready to unleash your latest weapon?" Moon's lights thrilled. They cast long shadows across the dim library. "Of course." Satellite Beta-55, B12 "Arm up, everyone," said McIntyre, hefting a Dark Matter rifle. The new versions had unlimited ammo, so he needn't worry about running out. "We're going down." And here came the worst part of the raid: Sarcos. The cyborg was wearing full combat gear, and strapped to one arm was...a nuke? "Sarcos, you're not ''taking that." "Of course I am. We might have to nuke the shit out of the place, right?" Jake shook his head and put on his helmet and turned to his seventy-odd men. "Anyone surprised that the words Sarcos and overkill are synonymous?" No reply, except for the nervous laughs of his men. "Well," he continued, all serious, "let's do it." He signalled one of the technicians at the consoles, who opened a hole in the ceiling. "Deactivate gravity," Sarcos said into his speaker, sealing his helmet. Jake gave him a poisonous look that said, ''that was my line. Sarcos just smiled. The men and women felt themselves being pulled upwards, then re-orientated themselves so their feet were facing the planet of Laxisour. hey began to fall. "Aim for the topmost turrets. That way we won't hit any vital parts of the stronghold." But they didn't need to be told - he had already run a breifing on a satellite. Deep inside what was left of his right brain, Jake wanted to kill Cyril. The man had brought so misery to every world he had visited, and deserved to die. But Jake also knew that they needed him alive. He looked at a device hanging from his armour. Would it do what it should when the time came? No time to think; the soldiers were in the exosphere. As their speed increased, the air was rubbing against their suits - designed especially for outer space diving and incorparated into a battle armour - creating an insane amount of friction, but they weren't bothered. Inside the suit it was air conditioned, with battle plans ready to be reviewed. Laxisour's landscape flew by quickly, and they were in the water. They deployed their drills, and held them downwards. Sarcos could be heard laughing maniacally as the soldiers hit the stronghold. The mercury spilled into the stronghold in waves, slowly releasing its poisonous gaseous form into the air, which was a result of the soldiers' metal-melting-hot boots stepping into the liquid metal. McIntyre signalled his people to move. The first few corridors were empty. It was not a surprise, as the part they had burst into were storage quarters. As the mercury began to fill up the space, silens and klaxons thrilled and the watertight doors started to close. The soldiers rushed through two nearest ones, becoming seperated. Jake did a quick head count. "Twenty-six," he breathed, but was relieved to find Sarcos among his ranks. He contacted another high-ranking member that had been with them, "Admiral Shaw, do you get me?" "Loud and clear, Admin," Shaw acknowledged him. "I've got sixty-four men." "I got twenty-six. We're three down." He looked at the list. "And guess who?" "Who?" "Sirovsky, Landell and Schumander." "Aw, shit!" The trio picked off two more guards that had appeared around the corner. "You know what I call this?" Schumander asked, firing off more rounds as he spoke. Lawrence Landell nodded for him to continue. "Two years ago, at a castle, I could've taken out Cyril and Watson." He used his portable resonator to make a hole in the wall. "But I didn't. I was so scared that I didn't dare face them. Not with another one of those things roaming around." Jenny Sirovsky scoffed, "There is no such thing as a giant lizard that turns people to dust." "Just wait 'till you see one." Schumander threw a plasma grenade, which exploded around a corner. "And you'll be convinced a Time Devourer exists." "You bet," replied Landell, "any contact from McIntyre?" "Nope. Back to the point: I let them get away; this time I won't. Not again, not ever." He paused for effect which was totally unecessary. "I call this a redemption."